Pressure mounting for tantalum capacitor price hikeNews & Analysis 1/28/2002 Post a commentTantalum powder suppliers are denying requests by several major capacitor makers to renegotiate multiyear "take or pay" contracts signed at the height of the last component shortage, putting severe pressure on their already depressed margins.

Kemet reports loss after restructuring chargeNews & Analysis 1/22/2002 Post a comment
Despite signs of an uptick, Kemet Electronics Corp. reported a net loss of $26.9 million or 31 cents per diluted share in its third fiscal 2002 quarter ended December 31, 2001, after a $38.5 million pretax restructuring charge to streamline manufacturing facilities, accelerate productivity improvement programs, and reduce its workforce by another 1,600 employees.

Collective Filter Evaluation of an FSD Filter-Based Resampling AlgorithmDesign How-To 1/15/2002 Post a commentMarek Blok of the Technical University of Gdansk, Poland, presents a collective filter for performance evaluation of a resampling algorithm based on fractional sample delay (FSD) filters. The proposed method is easy to use and lets you compare overall performance of the algorithm based on filters with different impulse response length or design methodology.

Decimation Stages with WDFs for Flexible Digital ReceiversDesign How-To 1/9/2002 Post a commentDieter Brckmann of the University of Wuppertal, Germany, describes a decimation filter architecture for highly optimized but flexible digital receivers. By using cascaded low-order wave digital filters for certain blocks, you reduce hardware cost and get superior sensitivity properties with respect to coefficient quantization effects, better noise performance, and less group-delay distortion.

Passive component makers slashing capex againNews & Analysis 1/8/2002 Post a commentPassive component vendors are keeping the lid on capital expenditures this year as inventory and capacity utilization rates remain at undesirable levels.
Unable to justify equipment purchases, many passives companies are sharply scaling back budgets for the second consecutive year. In 2000, companies invested heavily in additional plants to fill shortages of many commodity parts.